January 20, 2002

Minority of New York City companies resist laying off workers as profits falter during recession; seek to preserve company's culture and keep morale high; photo (M)

Felicia Lee Coping column on plight of Barbara Carson, 63, whose welfare payments expired in December under 1996 federal law and who is seeking job to support herself and her five grandchildren; Carson is eligible for safety net assistance but has yet to receive any allowances; drawing (M)

Collapse of Enron Corp may deal setback to energy deregulation, which Enron lobbied for more aggressively than any of its competitors; deregulation of power industry has progressed far more slowly than Enron's vaunted influence would suggest, and one of its goals, open access to nation's transmission lines, remains stalled in many regions; questions about Enron's input on Bush administration's energy plan is also drawing Senate scrutiny; former federal regulators, lobbyists and executives of Enron's erstwhile competitors argue that Enron scandal was result not of deregulation, but of lax oversight, hubris and ambition; photos; map (L)

Lisa Belkin column compares working in cubicle to having own office; notes cubicle occupants often try to create space that feels like it has walls out of desire for privacy and comfort; drawing (M)

Dave Anderson's Sport of The Times column examines relationship between Bill Parcells, former football coach and executive, and his former high school basketball coach Mickey Corcoran (L)

Mormon church considers challenges posed by Olympic games that will be held in church's headquarters, Salt Lake City; church known for its industrious proselytizing and for its global army of 60,000 missionaries finds itself lying low in city it built; it has decided not to promote its faith when Olympics shine global spotlight on Utah in three weeks; spokesman Michael Otterson says church considered large advertising campaign during Olympics, then concluded it could not be done tastefully as religion without looking like corporate entity; church touches every aspect of life in Utah, and it was involved in spearheading drive to win Olympics; church leaders hope that international visitors return home having discovered Mormons are in mainstream; photos (M)

Tina Brown shows her customary purpose and sangfroid in discussing demise of Talk magazine, which she created; says she is proud of having taken risk, and that nobody goes through life undefeated; says 'I am still Tina Brown' even after toppling from heights of fame and glossy success associated with her name; her earlier successes at Vanity Fair and The New Yorker recalled; photo (M)

Article, in light of retirement of Yves Saint Laurent, on other fashion designers who emerged in 1960's and 1970's who are reaching retirement age, including Oscar de la Renta, 69, Giorgio Armani, 67, Ralph Lauren, 62, and Calvin Klein, 59; while most have no plans to retire, fashion field is for the young; photos (M)

Some of 4,000 laid-off Enron workers feel betrayed by executives who hid corporation's crumbling finances and fattened their bank accounts while employees' jobs and retirement funds--built from Enron stock--disappeared; some longtime Enron employees lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as value of stock they accumulated in Enron's boom times tumbled in period when they were not allowed to sell it; laid-off workers have lost their weekly paychecks and crucial health benefits; Enron's collapse affected solidily middle-class lives in many ways; photos (M)

Lava Devastates Congo City A volcano spewed lava for the third day into the city of Goma, in Congo. The eruption has killed up to 40 people. PAGE 8 Hunger in Afghanistan In northern Afghanistan, the poorest and hungriest people have clung to their homes, unable even to reach the refugee camps. PAGE 15

New England Patriots defeat Oakland Raiders, 16-13, in overtime in round 2 of NFL playoffs; photo (L)

Gretchen Morgenson column welcomes somber talk that accompanied desultory quarterly reports just issued by IBM and Microsoft; says this realism is far preferable to upbeat predictions that have been coming from technology companies over last year; graph (M)